A day after its 30-3 victory over Iowa in the Outback Bowl, Florida received some good news Tuesday when junior defensive back Duke Dawson announced that he will be returning to school for his senior season. However, minutes later, junior left tackle David Sharpe and junior cornerback Quincy Wilson announced their intentions to declare early for the 2017 NFL Draft.
With Wilson, Dawson and Sharpe’s announcements in the books, the decisions to wait for in the coming days will come from cornerback Jalen Tabor, defensive tackle Caleb Brantley, linebacker Alex Anzalone, and punter Johnny Townsend.
Inside the Gators now takes a closer look at what each announcement means for Florida in 2017 with an Impact Analysis.
WHAT WILSON AND DAWSON’S DECISIONS MEAN
Dawson is fresh off of his strongest season yet as a Gator, one where he played primarily at nickelback and finished the year with 24 tackles, a pick-six, a team-best seven pass breakups, 3.5 TFL and a forced fumble in 12 appearances (seven starts).
However, with starting cornerback Wilson declaring and Jalen “Teez” Tabor likely off to the 2017 NFL Draft as well, Florida could count on the 5-foot-10, 208-pound Dawson to play a key role next season likely at one of the starting outside corner spots – unless if it chooses to keep him at nickel. Returning to school for his final year gives Dawson a good opportunity to improve his draft stock considerably.
Dawson’s return is a huge boost for a Gators secondary that would have been extremely young and inexperienced at cornerback without his presence.
If Chauncey Gardner moves from safety to cornerback during his sophomore season, Florida would presumably start both Dawson and Gardner at cornerback and Marcell Harris and Nick Washington at safety next year. If Florida chooses to predominantly utilize the nickel formation, which it has done the past two years under former defensive coordinator Geoff Collins, that’s where the rotation could get interesting.
Florida also returns cornerbacks Joseph Putu, Chris Williamson, C.J. McWilliams and McArthur Burnett to the mix in 2017, while 2017 defensive backs Elijah Blades, Marco Wilson and Shawn Davis could potentially see reps there. At safety, Jeawon Taylor and Quincy Lenton figure to see bigger roles as backups next season.
------
* 3-2-1: Pineiro went without missed field goal in final six appearances
* Big questions moving forward as Florida heads into offseason
* Three Takeaways: Promising talents on Gators defense for 2017
* Gardner earns Outback Bowl MVP honors in stellar finish to freshman season
------
WHAT SHARPE’S ANNOUNCEMENT MEANS
I discussed this earlier in our site’s 3-2-1 report, but Sharpe leaving Florida isn’t a huge blow. It’s something UF has had to brace for, considering the rumblings about Sharpe looking to jump to the professional level have been going for a while now.
Sure, the Gators lose a big body along the line and an experienced contributor who has started 26 games the past two years, but the 6-foot-6, 357-pound Sharpe’s 2016 season was an up-and-down affair. The junior was at time shaky in both the run game and in pass protection, often struggling against speedier edge rushers.
Martez Ivey and Jawaan Taylor, presumably Florida’s starting offensive tackles in 2017, arguably had better seasons this year than Sharpe.
Moving forward, that should be the protocol – keep Taylor at right tackle and slide Ivey over from left guard to the outside at left tackle to fill Sharpe’s role. Ivey handled that role quite well against South Carolina and looked like a natural fit there, en route to SEC offensive lineman of the week honors, while Sharpe nursed an ankle injury.
Other players on the current roster who could provide depth at tackle include Kavaris Harkless, Fred Johnson, Stone Forsythe and Andrew Mike, among others - although those players besides Johnson don't have a ton of live-game experience playing at tackle at the college level. Florida is set to add four-star tackle Kadeem Telfort to the mix as an early enrollee and is currently in play for Kai-Leon Herbert, Tony Gray and Caleb Chandler, among others.
At guard, Florida should still be deep, with Tyler Jordan and Johnson the favorites to start and Antonio Riles possibly adding depth as well (if he doesn’t switch to defensive tackle). Harkless, Richerd Desir-Jones, Nick Buchanan and Brandon Sandifer are all options to play guard, while Florida is set to add 2017 four-star offensive guard T.J. Moore in the summer.
As for Sharpe, right now he’d be projected as a mid-to-late round pick, but with a strong combine he could catapult himself into one of the earlier rounds. Sharpe does need to shed some weight, but his size may very well intrigue NFL teams. It’ll be interesting to see whether Sharpe can follow successfully in the footsteps of D.J. Humphries.
------
Thank you for reading this Inside the Gators article. To discuss it, please visit the Alligator Alley Forum.
